Vacuum cleaner



Dec. 19, 1950 s. F. cRABB 2,534,578

VACUUM CLEANER Filed sept. 2, 1947 2 sheets-sheet 1 2 sheets-sheet 2 S. F. CRABB VACUUM CLEANER nlilllllli.

Dec. 19, 195o Filed Sept. 2, 1947 Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VACUUM CLEANER Silas F. Crabb, Des Moines, Iowa Application September 2, 1947, Serial No. 771,623

4 Claims. (Cl. 183-55) The principal object of this invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner of the bagless type, wherein the dirt and air separating lter is nat and horizontal so that dirt and like will have a tendency to fall, by gravity. downwardly and free of the filter means.

A further object of my invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner having a flat horizontal internal lter fabric that is capable of being periodically electrically vibrated from a point inside the clean air compartment, thereby driving and forcing any dirt accumulation that may have gotten into the filter backwardly in the direction from whence it came and into the dirt receiving compartment.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that may obtain and retain a great quantity of dirt and like without interfering or electing the eliiciency of the same.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that is easily and quickly cleaned.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that has all working parts easily accessible for inspection or repair.

A still further object Vof this invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that is rened in appearance, economical in manufacture, and durable in use.

These and other objects Will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of my vacuum cleaner ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of my vacuum cleaner and more fully illustrates its construction.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of the device, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspectivel view of one end portion of the iilter and vibrating means.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of my vacuum cleaner, taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 2.

Most vacuum cleaners are of the bag type, wherein all dirt and air is forced into one end of the bag. Obviously, almost immediately as the bag iills with dirt the eiliciency of the machine decreases. This is due to the dirt tending to fall, by gravity, directly into the path of the dirt and air entering the end of the bag.

As a matter of fact, a good part of the air must pass through the dirt and material collected in the bag. All fabric iilter means is also prone to clog up with line dirt. In the bag type of vacuum cleaner it is entirely impracticable and undesirable to agitate the bag within the room being cleaned, inasmuch as a lot of this iine dust will pass through the bag walls and settle in the room being cleaned. I have overcome such objections by providing an internal fabric iilter that permits the heavier dirt and material to fall, by gravity, away from it and also by providing a mechanical agitating or beating means inside the vacuum cleaner and above the filter means.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral I0 to designate the upper shell of my device and the numeral II to designate the lower shell. These two shell portions are detachably secured together by any suitable means such as fasteners I2. A continuous band I3 is secured to the lower portion of the member I0 and which overlaps the upper portion of the member I I, as shown in Fig. 2. Resilient gaskets III may be secured to and placed between the lower marginal edge of the member IIJ and the upper marginal edge of the member II. Wheels I5 are secured to the member II to facilitate the movement of the machine in use. The numeral I6 designates my ilat filter fabric having its marginal edge portions secured around a frame Il, as shown in Fig. 4. As the members I S and II are of rectangular` construction, this lter means is also of rectangular form and is placed between the members I0 and II, as shown in Fig. 2. If, for any reason, it is desirable to remove this filter means, it is merely necessary to detach the portion I0 from the portion II and remove the same. It can be as easily replaced. However, due to the agitating means, later eX- plained, there will be indeed little reason for the removal of the lter screen and it will normally remain by friction within the portion II when the portions I0 and II are separated from each other. This screen I6 separates the inside of the portion IE! from the inside of the portion II and therefore provides a dirt compartment I8 and a filtered air compartment I 9. The numeral 29 designates the intake opening in the forward end of the portion I0 and designed to be connected to the usual attachment hose 2l. This opening 20 communicates with an air-tight passageway 22 which passes downwardly and through an opening in the lter screen. By this construction, dirt and air drawn into the device will pass into the compartment I8 and below the screen I 6. The numeral 23 designates an ordinary electric motor and suction fan mounted in the inside top of the portion I0, as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 25 designates electric lead wires electrically connected to the suction motor through the ordinary toggle switch 24. The numeral 35 designates an exhaust port through the top center of the member I2 communicating with the outside atmosphere and the inside of the motor fan. By this arrangement, when the motor and fan 23 are running, the air and dirt will be pulled through the hose 2|, through the passageway 22, into the dirt compartment I8, and then upwardly through the nlter screen I6. At this point, the dirt and air will be separated with the dirt normally falling to the bottom of the member II and clear of the under side of the filter means I6. The filtered air will then move upwardly into the compartment I9 and thence through the fan means and out of the port 35. By the filter means being fiat and horizontal it not only lends itself to mechanical agitation from above, but does provide a wide area through which the air may pass. Dirt falling downwardly by gravity into the bottom of the member II will be free of the oncoming dirt and air and this oncoming dirt and air is encouraged to completely avoid and pass over the accumulated dirt already in the machine by the horizontal shelf 26 directly below the passageway 22 and above the extreme bottom of the member II. As herebefore noted, however, any filter means may become impregnated with fine dust and have its eiiiciency effected. To eliminate this problem, I have provided an agitating or beating means inside the shell IQ and above the filter means I6. This portion of the device consists mainly of bearing members 2'I and an elongated crank shaft 28 journaled therein and extending along the longitudinal center length of the top of the filter means I5. This compound crank shaft, when rotated, strikes cleats or like members 29 secured to the top of the filter fabric, as Vshown As this beating takes effect above the lter the if) tendency will be to drive the fine dust, aided by gravity, back in the direction it originally penetrated the fabric and downwardly into the bottom of the dirt compartment I8. The numeral Se designates a sprocket gear on one end l of the shaft 28. The numeral 3l designates a small electric motor mounted inside the member I il and operatively connected to the spur gear Sil by the chain 32. This motor is grounded and connected to the electric lead wires25 through the push switch 33. By this arrangement, when it becomes necessary to clean the fabric i6 it is merely necessary to push downwardly on the switch 33, thereby electrically connecting the motor 3l and rotating the beating and agitating crank shaft 23. As the screen is inside the machine the cleaning of the screen will not deposit dust within the room being cleaned. However, it is important that the screen be flat and horizontal with the agitat- .T1

ing means above the screen. From my experimentations, I have found that if the `beating means were placed below the filter screen the tendency would be to drive the dirt through the screen and into the room. Only by using the flat screen and placing the agitating means above the screen was I able to accomplish the desired results. The numeral 34 designates a handle means on the top of the member Iii. This handle means consists chiefly of an elongated horizontal rod and two upwardly extending posts hinged at their lower ends to the top of the case and their upper ends secured to the horizontal bar at some distance from its two ends to provide a simple means for receiving and holding the wrapped electric lead wire.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved vacuum cleaner without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

i. In a vacuum cleaner, a bottom shell container, an inverted top shell container, a means for detachably securing said two shell containers together, a ilat flexible horizontal filter means between said two shell containers; said filter provided with a plurality-of spaced apart cleat members, a dirt and air inlet passageway terminating vertically below said filter means and inside said bottomshell container, a horizontal shelf bai-lie means inside said bottom container and spaced directly below the outlet end of said dirt and air passageway, a suction fan inside said inverted top shell container and communicating with the outside atmosphere, and a motor operatively connected to said fan; agitating means operatively associated with said cleat members and a motor operatively associated with said agitating means.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a bottom shell container, an inverted top shell container, a means for detachably securing said two shell containers together, a at iiexible horizontal iilter means between said two shell containers; said lter provided with a plurality of spaced apart cleat members on the top surface thereof, a dirt and air passageway communicating with the inside of said bottom shell container, a suction fan inside said inverted top shell container and in communication with the outside atmosphere, a motor operatively connected to said fan, bearing members, a crank shaft rotatably mounted in saidbearing members above said filter means and capable of striking and agitating said cleat members when rotated, and a motor inside said inverted top shell container and operatively connected to said crank shaft.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, a bottom shell container, an inverted top shell container, a means for detachably securing said two shell containers together, a ilat flexible horizontal filter means between said two shell containers, a dirt and air passageway communicating with the inside of said bottom shell container, a suction fan inside said inverted top shell container and in communication with the outside atmosphere,

a motor operatively connected to said fan, protective cleats on the upper side of said iilter means, a crankshaft rotatably mounted in said inverted top shell container and capable of striking said cleats when rotated, and a motor operatively connected to said crank shaft.

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a bottom shell container, an inverted top shell container, a means for detachably securing said two shell containers together, a flat exible horizontal filter means between said two shell containers. a dirt and'air passageway communicating with the inside of said bottom shell container, a suction fan inside said inverted top shell container and in communication with the outside atmosphere, a motor operatively connected to said fan, protective cleats on the upper side of said filter means, a crank shaft rotatably mounted in said inverted top shell container and capable of striking said cleats when rotated, a motor` operatively connected to said crank shaft, a handle means on the top of said upper shell comprising two spaced apart vertical posts hingedly secured to the top of said upper shell and a horizontal bar secured at each respective end to one of said posts; said handle member designed to be encircled by the electric cord on said device at times.

SILAS F. CRABB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

